I have a ton of vices. I drink enough to have to sneak some of my bottles in the neighbours recycling boxes every week, I smoke and I’m still carrying around baby lbs I should have dropped years ago. With all these risk factors going on, I made a pact with myself years ago that I’d never ever get on a sunbed - I’m already a likely candidate for cancer so why increase my chances further?

I’m also a skin fanatic. As a size. 14, I have lots of it, so it seems a good idea to look after it. My bedside table contains thousands of £ worth of anti-aging elixir, and my bathroom looks like a Boots storeroom (it’s so bad that Craig has his own bathroom down the hall). Sun lotion and fake tan is therefore something I have covered by the tube load.

In fact, I’m all about the fake tan. Holidays are for Sangria and gin, not sunburn and peeling skin. Of course you’ll find me relaxing around the beach, but any bronzing is out of a bottle and not a result of the sun. We all look better with a fan - Fact. It’s slimming, makes you look more toned and healthier, and it’s a look we’re all trying desperately to keep up as summer slips away into Autumn.

So if I hear about something revolutionary or innovative on the home-tanning scene, I’m all over it. So here I am bringing you a PHD Skin Care Self Tanner review, as I believe this is more than a little special. Okay the name is about as unsexy as you can get, but their tanner & sunscreen takes a hell of a lot of beating. Their “never miss a spot” technology drew me in and didn’t disappoint.

For anyone who regularly uses tanning products at home - they’ll be well-versed in the zombie-like shuffle required post-session to ensure a steak-free finish. They’ll also be used to the chemical smell in their bathroom, ugly stained mitt applicators and sprained shoulders from contorting to reach your back.

Well, no more.

Why? It’s all down to PHD’s “next generation intelligent delivery system” - I know, quite the mouthful, yet really quite ingenious. It might look like it’s been inspired by a Unibond sealant bottle, but the squirty straw-thingy (aka wand / angle spray) really does help you get to those hard-to-reach places. This also helps prevent wastage as you’ll no longer be inadvertently coating your shower curtain and tiles in the good stuff. Thankfully you can also ditch those mitts as this is a no rub formula that dries to a matte finish in minutes.

I’d go so far as to say this is the easiest self-tan to apply I’ve come across. It is more spray than mist and your skin will feel quite saturated by the time you’ve done your 2 coats, and you’ll still have to wait a good few minutes for it to dry sufficiently to get dressed - but you won’t need to get into a yoga pose to apply it.

The finish is really quite impressive and you get a deep yet natural glow that’s less Essex and more St Tropez. In terms of streaks, of course there were a few, but no more than you get with any mist spray, and a great deal less than some of the specialist cream / mousse tans out there. I’m confident with a little more practice it would look even better.

The formula has been put together by Bioscientists Brothers Dr Steven & Michael Isaacman. I won’t pretend they’ve created an all-natural chemical-free formula that smells of perfume and roses - no one has managed that feat yet! But this is a pleasant coconut scent with none of the usual moldy biscuit smell we’ve come to associate with self-tan - so that’s yet another step in the right direction.

Some effort has also been made to include natural ingredients and there’s a splash of coconut water to moisturise and hydrate the skin. Otherwise, I can’t pretend those with sensitive-skin are going to hold their bottles up the heavens with glee, but there are some notable absentees as far as nasty preservatives go.

All in all, self-tanning is never going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and many of those who do embrace it nip to a beauticians for a professional spray. Yet if you’re saving those pennies, or aren’t body confident enough to stand in your bikini for 20mins whilst a stranger with a spray gun gets trigger happy, this could be the solution for you. I’d rate it right up there with the big boys in terms of colour, yet a zillion times easier to apply.

With an RRP of £19.99 (currently on offer at Boots for £13.66) there’s no hefty price tag to stop tan addicts from giving this a go either. It really is a game-changer and a product I’d absolutely recommend to my porcelain buddies.

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